Manually operable printer, particularly for imprinting names and addresses upon tags, invoices and the like



Oct. 29, 1968 w. 0. TEAGUE. JR.. ET L 3,407,728

MANUALLY OPERABLE PRINTER, PARTICULARLY FOR IMPRINTING NAMES AND ADDRESSES UPON TAGS, INVOICES AND THE LIKE Filed April l4, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l F/GZ .INVENTORS v WALTER DORW/N TEA Gus, J ANTHONY P. MQNrALaANO 1 a,- 72 W w ngoui ATTORNEY Oct. 29,

W. D. TEAGUE. JR.

ET AL MANUALL-Y OPERABLE PRINTER, PARTICULARLY FOR IMPRINTING NAMES AND ADDRESSES UPON TAGS, INVOICES AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 14, 1965 FIG 4 VENTOARS WALTER 002W! 7'5 GUE, Jr. ANTI/0) l? #OIVZHIBA/VD ATTORNE United States Patent 3,407,728 MANUALLY OPERABLE PRINTER, PARTICULAR- LY FOR IMPRINTING NAMES AND ADDRESSES UPON TAGS, INVOICES AND THE LIKE Walter D. Teague, Jr., Glen Goin Road, Alpine, NJ. 07620, and Anthony P. Montalbano, 2409 87th St., Jackson Heights, NY. 11372 Filed Apr. 14, 1965, Ser. No. 447,990 8 Claims. (Cl. 101-282) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A manually operable printer is disclosed having a base and a movable slide which may be moved back and forth with respect to the base. An indicia plate or the like is placed upon the slide with a sheet or tag upon which the indicia is to be printed, and they are moved beneath the roller to perform the printing.

This invention relates to printing devices and the like, and more in particular to mechanisms for printing laundry tags, credit or sales invoices and other such items by utilizing plates and cards bearing the name and address of a customer or other person.

An object of this invention is to provide a simple and efiicient mechanism for printing a tag or the like from a card or plate bearing a name and/ or other identification. A further object is to provide a printing unit which is an important component in a system for identifying and handling bundles of laundry in a commercial laundry. Another object is to provide an improved hand printer. Further objects are to provide for the above with structures which are simple, sturdy, compact, light in weight, and eificient and dependable in use. These and other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out below.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of one embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the embodiment of FIGURE 1;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are sectional views, respectively on the lines 3-3 of FIGURE 1 and 44 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a plate which may be used in the embodiment of FIGURES 1 to 4.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, a printer 2 has a stationary chassis 4, resting upon a pair of cushion strips 6, and providing a mounting for a slidable carriage 8. A knob is rigidly mounted by a stem 12 in the left-hand end of chassis 4 and may be grasped by the operator to move or to hold the chassis. Carriage 8 is adapted to slide between the position shown in FIG- URE 2 to the position shown in FIGURE 3, and during such movement its central portion 14 passes under and elevates a roller 16, which is journaled at its ends in a pair of spring brackets 18. Each of the brackets 18 (see also FIGURE 3) is generally U-shaped with one leg 20 terminating in a ring 22 (FIGURE 1), which provides the support arm and journal for one end of the roller. The other leg 24 is mounted in chassis 4 (FIGURE 3) with its end 25 positioned beneath an adjusting screw 26 and with a curved or saddle portion 28 riding upon a hori zontal fulcrum formed by a horizontal retainer pin 30 in the chassis. Hence, when roller 16 moves up and down, each spring bracket 18 flexes throughout its length so as to urge the roller downwardly. Therefore, the roller may ride upwardly upon the central portion 14 of the carriage, but it is under a very uniform and predetermined downward bias or pressure.

3,407,728 Patented Oct. 29, 1968 Referring to FIGURE 4, roller 16 is mounted upon a shaft 32 by a pair of spindles 34 and a pair of speed nuts 36 which are pushed onto the ends of the shaft. The roller is formed by a metal cylinder or shell 38 and an enclosing cover 40 which is formed of urethane elastomer and fits shell 28 snugly. During assembly of the roller, the cover is drawn onto the shell, and the spindles are then pressed onto the shaft and into the ends of the shell and are held in place by the press-fit and the resiliency of the spindles. As shown in FIGURE 4, each of the spindles 34 includes a tapered annular channel which allows the spindle to contract when pressed into shell 38.

Carriage 8 is slidably mounted upon a pair of rails 43 along the sides of chassis 4, there being a pair of slides 44 on the bottom of the carriage which mate with grooves 45 in the chassis. Projecting upwardly from each of the rails is a stop pin 46 which is engaged at the opposite ends of the sliding movement of the carriage by bumpers 48 and 50, respectively. That is, bumpers 48 engage the stop pins when the carriage is in the position of FIGURE 1, and bumpers 50 engage the stop pins when the carriage is in the position of FIGURE 3. Carriage 8 has a ramp 52 in alignment with roller 16 which moves beneath and lifts the roller as the carriage is pushed to the left from the position of FIGURE 1 to the position of FIGURE 3.

Adjacent the ramp and at the right in FIGURES l to 3 there is a generally rectangular indicia plate 54 which is snugly positioned within a horizontal pocket 55 in a base plate 61 in the top of carriage 8. The top surface 59 of indicia plate 54 is in horizontal alignment with the adjacent top edge of the ramp so that roller 16 rolls from the top of the ramp along the top surface 59 of the indicia plate as the carriage progresses toward the position shown in FIGURE 3. The horizontal pocket 55 and slot 60 are in the removable base plate 61 mounted in the carriage. The top surface 59 of indicia plate 54 bears a name and address in raised indicia so that when a pressure-sensitive transfer assembly is positioned on the surface and roller 16 passes over it, the name and address are recorded or produced by the transfer assembly.

Illustratively, indicia plate 54 is a tag bearing the name and address and other identification of the customer of a laundry, and it is attached by a cord 58 to a bag of laundry which is to be washed. Cord 58 extends through a slot 60 and thence through a hole 62 in the end of the tag and has its end knotted in an enlarged pocket in the tag. The transfer assembly shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 and represented in broken lines in FIGURES 1 and 2 is a laundry slip or list 64, the heading of which is placed over the indicia on the plate or tag 54. The portion of the laundry slip or list that is contacted by the roller is supported as shown at the left in FIGURE 4 by a horizontal surface 66 on the carriage and a wire loop 68 mounted on the carriage, and it is held in alignment by side walls 70 and 72.

The base plate 61 for the tag or indicia plate 54 may be replaced by flat base plate 74, shown in FIGURE 5. Plate 74- is adapted to provide a firm base for indicia cards, such as, credit and identification cards and the like. A pair of lugs 76 upon the end of plate 74 project beneath a ledge (not shown) near the top of the ramp so as to hold the plate in proper alignment. Base plate 57 has similar lugs (not shown). Hence, when one of the base plates 61 or 74 is positioned in the carriage, it rests securely in place, but it may be removed by grasping and lifting the other end (at the right in FIGURE 1).

As many possible embodiments may be made of the method and apparatus features of the above invention and as the art herein described might be varied in various parts, all without departing from the scope of the invention, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore of movement of said carriage and adapted to roll along the top of said carriage, each of said spring arms being generally U-shaped and having one end portion enclosed within said base and another end portion positioned above said base and substantially parallel to the adjacent side edges thereof, fulcrum means for each of said spring arms around which the spring arm is adapted to turn, adjusting means contacting each of said spring arms and exerting pressure, turning the spring arm to resiliently urge said roller toward said general path of movement of said carriage, said carriage including means adapted to receive an indicia plate with the indicia positioned in a general plane which is adapted to be contacted by said roller during the above mentioned movement of said carriage, and means to provide support for indicia-receiving means in contact with the indicia during movement under said roller.

2. A device as described in claim 1 wherein each of said spring arms is mounted in said base upon a horizontal support with an end projecting beyond the support, and an adjusting screw contacting said end and adapted to provide adjustment for the pressure of the spring arm on the end of said roller.

3. A device as described in claim 1 wherein said carriage has an integral ramp portion which is adapted to ride beneath said roller and move said roller against the resilient action of said spring arms to the general plane of the indicia.

4. A device as described in claim 3 wherein said indicia plate is a tag bearing the name and address of the person and having a cord attached thereto and wherein said carriage has a rectangular area surrounding said plate.

5. A device as described in claim 1 wherein said roller comprises a metal cylindrical shell having spindles in its ends and a flexible cover thereon and a shaft projecting therethrough and journaled in said spring arms.

6. A device as described in claim 5 wherein each of said spring arms is a bar terminating in a ring in which the end of said shaft is journaled, and means upon each of the ends of said shaft and holding the respective ring thereon.

7. In a printer of the type which is adapted to be used in placing indicia upon a laundry slip or list, the combination of, a pair of members one of which is adapted to be held stationary and the other of which is adapted to slide thereon, one of said members being adapted to receive an indicia plate or tag and to hold the same in a position so that the indicia thereon may be impressed upon indicia-receiving means by pressure, the other of said members having a roller assembly mounted thereon and adapted to move over the indicia on a plate or tag positioned as indicated above, said roller assembly comprising a pair of spring members and a roller mounted thereon and adapted to exert pressure upon said indicia, each of said spring members having a mounted-end portion and a roller-supporting end portion positioned respectively upon the opposite sides of the general plane of said indicia and having a central portion interconnecting said end portions, mounting means rotatably mounting one end of said roller upon the respective roller-supporting end portions, means mounting each of said mountedend portions upon the other of said members comprising a fulcrum about which said mounted-end portion is adapted to turn and adjusting means engaging said mounted-end portion and adapted to swing its spring member about the fulcrum to increase the resilient pressure of said roller toward said indicia.

8. A printing device or the like of the character described, the combination of, as stationary base, a carriage, means slidably mounting said carriage on said base comprising a pair of parallel grooves in said base and a pair of slides on the bottom of said carriage and positioned in and mating with said grooves, said slides and said grooves having interlocking means to prevent movement of said carriage transversely of said sliding movement, a pair of generally U-shaped spring arms mounted adjacent the opposite side edges of the base, each of said spring arms having two arm portions one of which is a supported arm portion supported by the base and the other of which is a roller supporting arm spaced from and substantially parallel to said base, a roller mounted at its ends upon the spring arms above the base in the general path of movement of said carriage, supporting means for said supported arms providing support intermediate the length thereof whereby an extreme end projects beyond the support, an adjusting screw contacting said extreme end and adapted to provide adjustments for the pressure of the spring arm on the end of said roller, said carriage including means adapted to receive an indicia plate or the like with the indicia thereon in a general plane which is adapted to be contacted by said roller during the above-mentioned movement of said carriage, and means to provide support for an indicia receiving means in contact With the indicia during movement under said roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,161,602 6/1939 Von Pein 101-281 2,452,208 10/ 1948 Reger. 2,684,238 7/1954 Robinson. 2,742,662 4/ 1956 Lyons. 2,982,205 5/1961 Maul 101-269 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

F. A. WINANS, Assistant Examiner. 

